Nov 24, 2006, Mt Hood Ski Bowl skinning

We skinned up Ski Bowl, which is still closed, to partake in the massive amounts of snow we've gotten lately. We took two runs in upper bowl and a short run down Reynolds. We were concerned about the avalanche hazard, but we never found any evidence of instability. On the slopes we skied, the snow was very thick, heavy, and consistent in density thru the entire snowpack with no evidence of wind effect. SB is low in elevation; I wouldn't expect the same thing on Hood's edifice.

Brian:



At the end of the day we drove down highway 26 to see if we could get to Meadows on a USFS back road that avoids the damage on highway 35. We had heard this road was plowed, which it was, but unfortunately it is gated with a locked gate. They are keeping this road closed for facilitating the construction on highway 35.